Asamoah Gyan insists his does not fear taking penalty kicks for Ghana but is only respecting the wish of his late mother hence his decision to stay away from spot kicks.
The Black Stars captain who used to be the team’s no.1 penalty taker has decided to cease taking the spot kicks following two painful experiences.
First was his last minute penalty miss in the quarter finals of the 2010 World Cup against Uruguay.
The miss denied Ghana the chance of making history as the first African side to make it through to the last four as the Black Stars lost out to the South Americans in a shootout.
Gyan again became the villain as his penalty miss against Zambia in the semi finals at the last Nations Cup saw Ghana’s chances of winning the tournament fizzle into thin air – inflicting more misery onto Ghanaians in the process.
The Al AIn striker as a result, suffered several verbal abuses from the hurt passionate Ghanaian football fan leading to the temporal international retirement of the 27-year-old.
The ex Sunderland, Rennes and Udinese hitman now says he will no longer take the spot kicks for Ghana despite being in the best scoring form of his life following the untimely death of his mother, Cecelia Love Amoako.
According to Gyan, ceding his powers to take the penalty kicks for Ghana was one of the last wishes of his late man which he intends respecting to the latter.
He however says he is ever ready to do so in situations where he obviously has no option such us a shootout but would prefer to stay away.
“Taking penalty kicks is not necessarily about who the expert is, it’s about who has the confidence to pick the ball,” he told Angel FM.
“I have already stated I will not be taking penalty kicks for now for Ghana because of the past experiences which really bothered my family especially my late mother.
“I therefore decided to respect the wishes of my late mother to no longer take the penalty kicks.
“It is not that I lack the confidence to do so, I am only respecting the wishes of my late mother.”
The issue of who takes the penalty kicks for Ghana has yet again become very relevant with the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations on the horizon.
Midfielder Mubarak Wakaso however took the last spot kick for the Black Stars in the 4-2 friendly win over Tunisia last Sunday – where he scored with aplomb.